SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco General Hospital has become the first hospital in the country to gain certification for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, a recognition that is expected to set the standard for other hospitals around the country.

San Francisco's public hospital, which received national attention for caring for Giants fan Bryan Stow after he was brutally beaten, received the certification after an intensive on-site visit by the Joint Commission, a national independent organization that accredits hospitals and offers disease-specific certifications.

The certification for traumatic brain injury was based on the hospital's medical skills, neuro-monitoring capabilities, imaging technologies and research, said Dr. Geoff Manley, San Francisco General's chief of neurosurgery. He said he hopes other hospitals will seek certification.

"We very much see traumatic brain injury today where cancer was 40 years ago," said Manley, explaining that surviving cancer was once considered a miracle. "We want to take traumatic brain injury out of the realm of miracles and make it so that if you go to the right hospital at the right time, you can be a miracle, too."

The hospital's specialists see more than 1,200 patients with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and perform nearly 300 neurosurgical operations a year.

In addition to Stow, who was attacked outside Dodger Stadium on March 31, other recent high-profile injuries include Ryan White, a 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy who was struck by a suspected drunken driver after a Giants game in August, and Gaelic football player Mark McGovern, who was knocked unconscious during a game in June.